Crawfords first season in Boston a forgettable one

Monday

Oct 17, 2011 at 12:01 AM

Editor’s Note: This offseason promises to be one of dramatic change for the Red Sox. “We’ll have to take a very close look at everything that’s not right, we have to fix, and that includes the whole organization,” general manager Theo Epstein said. O

By TIM BRITTON | Journal Sports Writer

Editor's Note: This offseason promises to be one of dramaticchange for the Red Sox. "We'll have to take a very close look ateverything that's not right, we have to fix, and that includes thewhole organization," general manager Theo Epstein said. Over thenext week, Brian MacPherson and Tim Britton will perform that taskthemselves.

On the penultimate day of spring training back in March, CarlCrawford participated in a simulated game at Boston's minor-leaguecomplex. In nine at-bats against John Lackey and minor-leaguer AdamMills (who the Sox would release within the week), Crawford lookedjust a bit lost at the plate, shaking his head after a trio ofstrikeouts.

It wasn't the last time the Red Sox would see that expressionfrom their new left fielder.

Crawford's first season in Boston was almost unfathomablydisappointing. An unimpressive spring bled over into a rough startto the regular season and a drop in the lineup. His rebound -inevitable at some point in a 162-game season, right? - simplynever came. His hot streaks were notable for their brevity: fourhits on back-to-back days in late May and nine hits in a three-gameseries against the Yankees in August. The positive momentum nevercarried over like its negative foil.

In all, Crawford finished the year with full-season careerworsts in batting average, on-base percentage and stolen bases. Notonly was Crawford not the All-Star the Red Sox were expecting; hewas barely league replacement. Fangraphs listed the $142-millionoutfielder as worth 0.2 wins above replacement during the season;Baseball-Reference had him at an even 0.

So how do the Red Sox rehabilitate Carl Crawford for 2012?

"That's another significant priority for us: Getting Carl backto what he's been previously in his career is a requisite for usthis winter," general manager Theo Epstein said last week. "We'vespent an awful lot of time thinking about it, and we're going tospend more time thinking about it. We'll get together with him, putour heads together and see what can be done."

At the plate, Crawford often appeared bewildered andfundamentally unsound. His open stance seemed to widen as theseason went on, and the Red Sox talked up the importance of hisgetting his front foot down in time to better see the ball.

Those should be fixable problems for someone who turned 30 inAugust. There is a blueprint for a successful outfielder bouncingback after a bad first year in a new, bigger market. One need onlylook at Curtis Granderson's experience in the Bronx to forecast abetter season for Crawford in his second year in Boston. Afterhitting just .247 with 24 home runs - the majority of which came inthe final two months of the season - for the Yankees in 2010,Granderson emerged as a legitimate MVP candidate in 2011. He posteda career high OPS this season and led the American League with 119RBI.

An even better example might be Carlos Beltran's tenure with theMets. Coming off a historic postseason, Beltran signed an enormouscontract with New York in 2005 and promptly delivered the same kindof perplexingly uninspired season that Crawford just had in Boston.It was, like Crawford's, the worst full season of Beltran's career.A year later, the center fielder came through with what stillstands as the best full season of his career, a monster 2006 thatincluded the third-best wins above replacement in all of baseballand a fourth-place finish in the MVP voting.

Like Crawford, Granderson was 29 during his down season; Beltranwas 28.

Crawford's struggles in 2011 were never attributed to a lack ofeffort. If anything, he may have been placing too much pressure onhimself to succeed quickly, therein digging an early hole fromwhich he never surfaced. With the optimism an offseason breeds,Epstein said Crawford's accountability is the first step towardrecovery.

"Carl has taken full and very public responsibility for having avery disappointing year, and he did. That's the first step,"Epstein said. "The next step is 'What are you going to do aboutit?' We're not going to abandon him."

One thing the Red Sox will need to do is find a consistent spotin the batting order for Crawford. He started the season hittingthird but was quickly dropped to seventh by the third game of theyear - a move that probably focused the spotlight on his earlystruggles. He spent a few more weeks hitting in the top two in theorder before being dropped again to the bottom half, where he spentmost of the season.

When he got the chance to hit second late in the year, Crawfordspoke of returning to where he belonged. But even if Crawford wereto have a trademark season, where does he fit in a lineup withJacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia and Adrian Gonzalez at the top?

The disappointment of Crawford's season was mitigated in part bythe success of Ellsbury, who became everything the Red Sox hopedfor out of their center fielder and more. In morphing into afront-runner for the MVP, Ellsbury exhibited Crawford's speed, highaverage and high-caliber defense - all with the added element ofpower. How much could you have won on a preseason bet that Ellsburywould lead the Sox in home runs?

The only question regarding Ellsbury is whether the team will beable to lock him up long-term before he hits the market in2013.

Boston needed that kind of offensive production from centersince it received very little from either of its corner spots.Opposite Crawford, J.D. Drew also submitted the worst season of hisbig-league career in right field. Josh Reddick provided a spark inthe middle of the season, but an inevitable late slump earnedReddick a spot on the bench over the final week.

Reddick will probably be in the mix for the everyday job inright field next season, alongside fellow youngster Ryan Kalish.Kalish will undergo offseason neck surgery, a fitting end to afrustrating lost year for the 23-year-old. Boston could also lookfor a right-handed bat to either platoon with Reddick/Kalish or towin the everyday job outright. Ranging from most to leastexpensive, Michael Cuddyer, Josh Willingham and Ryan Ludwick areall possibilities.

tbritton@providencejournal.com

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